B2B social media

We recently hosted an interesting lunch & learn at our office on the topic of Social Media as a B2B tool.

Presented by The Culture of Innovation Collaborative and moderated by Wyman Lee, Managing Director, Upside Intel, the lunch & learn featured presentations from Bernard Martin, President of Rapid Production Marketing, Sarah Mayer, Principal of Infiniti Marketing Solutions, LLC, and Daedalus’ Research Manager, Carolynn Johnson. Carolynn is one of the authors of this blog and manages our social media strategy.

Below is a quick summary of the take-aways from the session.

Bernie presented a strategic overview of Social Media being used in the B2B sectors:

Embraced forms of communication evolve with each generation. The latest generation is embracing social media; companies that fail to do so will get left behind.

Social media is here to stay. Adoption rates are paralleling those of earlier business related technologies, like the fax and email. Twitter has crested the 12-14% adoption rate in the diffusion of innovation model, moving from use by early adopters to use by the early majority.

Social media is simply another form of communication with your target audience; a lot of the same rules apply and it should be used effectively.

Sarah provided an overview of social media from an operational standpoint:

As a company you cannot simply sign up for accounts at the various sites and call it a strategy; develop a content strategy before venturing out. Determine what kinds of content your customers will care about; how that content will interact with your marketing strategy; which outlets will best suit your needs, etc.

Designate an admin to monitor and manage your social networks. As an admin represent your company in the same way you would in any other public forum.

Develop a moderation policy for all outbound materials.

Be prepared for media attention before it happens and have a plan for how to handle it.

Carolynn provided a brief synopsis of the social media strategy being pursued at Daedalus, including what has gone well and lessons learned:

Take time to learn the etiquette of each social media outlet – otherwise you end up looking silly.

Social media isn’t about winning a popularity contest – it’s about engaging with your customers about the things that matter to them and to you.

A successful social media strategy requires upkeep – we’re still struggling with this.

Your social media strategy should be a reflection of your company’s voice and personality.